Doudican’s shutout leads Purcellville over Woodstock

The Purcellville Cannons’ ended their 6-game losing streak on Wednesday night, defeating the Woodstock River Bandits, 6-1, at Fireman’s Field.

Leading the charge was left-hander Pat Doudican, who rebounded well after losing his first three starts of the season. In his first appearance at Fireman’s Field, Doudican authored a 7-inning shutout, allowing just five hits and one walk while striking out six in route to his first victory of the season.

Doudican was very efficient in his seven innings of work, recording 18 of his 21 outs on either a strikeout or a groundout. The biggest groundout of the night was a 4-6-3 double play Doudican forced from Woodstock shortstop Sean Scales that ended a two-on/one-out jam in the top of the 6th that preserved the first shutout by a Cannons’ starter this season.

On offense, Purcellville was led by centerfielder DeAndre Amion, who tallied run-scoring base hits in the third, fifth and sixth innings, respectively. The Cannons pushed out to a comfortable lead in the fifth on back-to-back RBI singles by third baseman Sage Bruhl and Amion, which preceeded an RBI groundout by PJ Harris to make it a 4-0 game.

Another pair of back-to-back RBI singles, this time by Amion and right fielder Ray Hernandez one inning later gave the Cannons a 6-run cushion. Hernandez had a team-high three hits in the win, extending his hitting streak to 11 games.

Second baseman Eriq White was 1-2, reaching base three times and scoring two runs. The Alabama State product has scored five runs in the last two games.

Tensions flared in the bottom of the 8th inning when Purcellville catcher Matt Reed was hit for the third straight time, this time in the helmet by Woodstock reliever Brady Jones. The previous two were courtesy of starter Brandon Hester, who allowed six earned runs over six innings and was handed his third loss in four starts this summer.

Reed and Jones were both ejected from the game as words were exchanged and benches cleared.

After Billy Cox tossed a scoreless 8th inning, Purcellville native Will Reed struggled but ultimately closed out the final frame. After walking the bases loaded, an RBI groundout by Nick Ward pushed across the River Bandits’ lone run of the game. Reed recovered by striking out Eric Garza and Austin Young to nail down the Cannons’ fifth win of the season.

Now at 5-12, Purcellville hopes to start a winning streak when they hit the road for three straight games over the weekend after a scheduled off day on Thursday.

The Cannons will start with a short trip to Jim Barnett Park to take on the Winchester Royals on Friday. Purcellville won their lone contest this season over Winchester, defeating the Royals, 10-5, at home on June 12th.